Chapter 10.
Just like the sun over the mountain top
You know I'll always come again
You know I love to spend my morning time
Like sunlight dancing on your skin
I've never gone so wrong as to telling lies to you
What you've seen is what I've been
There is nothing I could hide from you
You see me better than I can
Out on the road that lies before me now
There are some turns where I will spin
I only hope that you can hold me now
Till I can gain control again
Like a lighthouse you must stand alone
Landmark the sailor's journeys end
No matter what sea I've have been sailing on
I'll always roll this way again
Out on the road that lies before me now
There are some turns where I will spin
I only hope that you can hold me now
Till I can gain control again
"Are you nervous?" Logan fidgeted next to Makoto in the car.
"Yeah…a little. I hope your father approves of me." Makoto was silent for a second.
"You are mine, of course he will approve," he said finally, but his expression had gone serious.
"Something between you and your dad?"
"Just the usual father/son things, my dear. Don't worry yourself." The car stopped at the massive gates of the Yashida compound. "We must walk from here," said Makoto. "For security reasons." He helped Logan out of the car.
"Nice place you got here," she said.
"It dates back to the feudal era, when the Yashida were the daimyos of this province." He ushered her through a small opening in the gate. The grounds were palatial, but Logan didn't miss the security cameras and inconspicuous, heavily armed guards strolling through the maples and the rock gardens.
The Yashida mansion was situated on a high hill, on the edge of cliffs dropping down to the ocean. A winding rock walkway climbed to the main doors, with smaller buildings set into the hillside. Makoto kissed her cheek. "Wait here, my dear. A maid will come escort you to our room."
"Where are you going?"
"To pay my respects to Shingen." He started up the walkway at a brisk pace. Logan sighed and sat on a garden bench with her bags. Soon the hot sun beating down got to be too much, and she stood and began to wander the immaculate paths that wound away into other parts of the grounds.
She walked for a long time, until she found a quiet cove of pine trees to have a cigarette. Makoto had let her know he wasn't crazy about the habit, but Logan figured what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to drop dead from lung cancer.
There was a grunt from behind her, and Logan turned to see a small building, barely visible through the trees. Yells and sounds of pain were emanating from it. Logan dropped her cigarette and hurried towards the noise.
She had expected a fistfight, or maybe a beating in progress, but she didn't expect to see a stocky Japanese man in a short kimono beating mercilessly on a Yashida clan soldier with a wooden sword. The soldier finally dropped to one knee, his sword falling by his side and holding up his hands in submission.
Mate, stop he gasped.
The man in the kimono sheathed his sword in his belt and bowed formally. You need practice, gohai.
Yes, Matsuo-san the beaten soldier agreed. He stood and also bowed, then left the dojo. The man called Matsuo turned and saw Logan before she could duck away.
Who are you? he demanded suspiciously.
"I'm Logan," she answered. "I'm here with Mokoto Yashida." Matsuo's frown changed to an expression of contempt.
"Oh," he said shortly. "The main house is up the hill."
"He told me to wait while he met with Shingen."
"Lord Shingen," Matsuo corrected her brusquely. Logan raised an eyebrow.
"Lord Shingen then." Matsuo turned away and put his practice sword on a rack with many others. Next to it was a stand with several metal-bladed and gleaming samurai swords. Even Logan's untrained eye could see they were top-notch blades.
"What do you do here?" she asked, walking over to the rack and running her fingers over the handle of one of the swords. Matsuo's hand clamped over her wrist and took it away from the blade.
"Don't touch." Logan gave a growl.
"Same goes for you, pal." Matsuo's eyebrows went up, but he released her hand.
"You are not like Makoto's other women." Logan decided to ignore the "other women" part of that sentence.
"Yeah, I'm one of a kind." Matsuo stared into her eyes for a moment.
"You are a warrior," he pronounced. Logan blinked.
"Uh…whatever, pal."
"This is my dojo," said Matsuo, gesturing around. "Lord Shingen demands that all his soldiers be trained in bushido, traditional samurai arts." He dropped his arm. "I usually do not allow gaijin women inside, but you may stay." Logan's mouth quirked.
"Well gosh, I'm flattered."
"Do you have practice with the sword?"
"Some."
Matsuo handed her a wooden practice sword. "Let me see what you can do, gaijin."
Logan took the sword, bowing to Matsuo. He returned the bow, and then struck.
Logan blocked him easily, her old combat techniques flowing back to her. She matched Matsuo blow for blow, but could not get the better of him.
"Logan!"
Matsuo and Logan both jumped back at the sound of Makoto's voice. Matsuo dropped the sword and bowed to Makoto. I am sorry, Lord Makoto.
Logan felt almost guilty for a moment. "Did your conversation with your dad go well?"
"It went fine," Makoto said tersely. "Come with me now. You need to change before you meet my father."
"Change?"
"Yes. You need to appear as a proper Japanese woman."
Logan raised an eyebrow at that, but decided to see where this was going. "Um, okay. Let's go." She turned to Matsuo and bowed. It was an honor to meet you.
Matsuo bowed in return. As it was an honor to meet you.
Logan looked at herself in the mirror. She was dressed in a light blue kimono, tied at her small waist with a white obi. Her hair was gathered in a bun, decorated with a lotus blossom clip. She frowned. That wasn't her reflection.
Makoto came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I wish we were not due at my father's table soon. I would much rather spend the night removing this from your perfect body." He stroked the fabric of the kimono.
Logan felt suddenly self-conscious. "Maybe later, Makoto."
He kissed her neck. "I will hold you to that."
Logan had to admit that Shingen Yashida didn't look the way she had expected. She bowed to him. "It is an honor to meet you, Lord Shingen."
He returned the bow tersely. "You are my son's latest conquest, I hear."
Makoto took Logan's hand. "She is the woman I love, father."
They are all the one you love when they are your latest whore, Makoto.
Makoto bristled. She is an honorable woman, father.
Shingen snorted.
An older Japanese man entered the room. Dinner is served, Lord Shingen.
The three of them entered the dining room, Logan careful to remember what the proper dinner table behavior was for a woman in Japan.
I do not understand why you continue to dishonor me, my son. Every woman you have brought into my home is a gaijin whore. Why can you not marry a woman from one of my allied clans—make a profitable marriage?
I will only marry a woman I love, father.
You love only what is between her legs.
Logan had heard enough. It isn't very nice to say things like that at the dinner table, she growled.
Shingen's eyes widened slightly. You speak Japanese.
I get by.
He gave her a saccharine smile. Then accept my apologies for speaking against your honor.
They are accepted, Logan said, mimicking Shingen's plastic smile. He picked up his chopsticks and began eating the first course. Makoto slid his hand over Logan's, giving a silent apology. Logan pulled it away and began to eat.
Logan stood in the middle of Matsuo's dojo, clad only in light cotton gi pants and a Toronto Maple Leafs t-shirt. Matsuo was sitting at the edge of the room, his legs folded under him as he watched her.
Again. he said. Logan nodded slightly, going back to the ready position and then lashing out with the bright steel blade she held. She had been living in the Yashida compound for nearly four months, and in that time Matsuo had trained her well in the art of bushido.
Logan finished, breathing heavily. Makoto would have a fit if he found her here, doing something that was decidedly improper for the lover of the heir of Clan Yashida. But he was in Tokyo overseeing business, and Shingen rarely left the main house except to meet with the heads of his allied clans. Matsuo stood.
Mate. What troubles you, Logan-san? Logan set her sword carefully back on the rack.
Nothing, sempai. I'm sorry to appear distracted. Matsuo inclined his head.
A warrior with her head in the clouds is asking to lose it. Logan smiled.
"I'm hard to kill, remember?" Matsuo's mouth twitched, the closest he ever got to smiling.
Do not become arrogant, Logan-san. He bowed to her. You are dismissed for today. Logan bowed low and left the dojo to clean herself up for Makoto's return.
Logan smiled when she heard Makoto enter their apartments, but her face quickly fell. She sniffed the air, wanting to make sure she was correct.
The cheap scent of heavy, artificial jasmine. It was not her scent. Far from it. She stormed into the other room, her eyes wild. "Where the fuck have you been and who have you been with?" she screamed at Makoto.
He took a step back. "I'm happy to see you, too," he said with a frown.
"Don't get smart with me! I can smell her all over you. Who was she?"
"Logan, it isn't what you think, I…"
"Don't give me that shit! What, was I just another 'conquest' for you, someone to keep in your bed like a good little girl while you went out and got your kicks elsewhere?"
Makoto sighed. "Logan, I don't have the energy to 'get my kicks' elsewhere. You are more woman than even I can handle."
Logan ripped the lotus clip from her hair, throwing it at Makoto. He dodged, and the clip fell to the ground behind them. "You're just like all the other men!" Logan yelled. "You're using me just like the rest!"
"No! I didn't want to meet with her, I promise! My father made me."
"What, is he your pimp?"
"I didn't sleep with her!" Makoto explained. "Logan, please—I love you."
Logan clasped her hands over her ears. "I don't want to hear anymore of your lies!" She turned and started to run from the room.
"Logan, wait! I don't want to marry her—I want to marry you!"
Logan stopped at that. She turned slowly, looking back across the room at Makoto. "You want to what?"
"Marry you—make you my wife." He pulled a small box from his jacket pocket. "I was going to wait for a more romantic moment, but…"
Logan blinked. "Why…?" Makoto opened the box and handed it to her. A delicate diamond ring rested on a velvet bed.
"Logan, my father wants me to marry the daughter of the lord of his allied clan. He made me meet with her today. I'm sorry I didn't tell you but…" He smiled wryly. "I was afraid of a reaction like this." Logan took the box, still at a loss for words.
"Is she pretty?"
"She's repugnant," said Makoto. He took the ring and slid it onto Logan's finger. "But you are beautiful. Marry me." Logan wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug.
"Okay." Makoto struggled for breath for a moment, then just let Logan hold him. She looked into his eyes.
"I love you, Makoto."
"And I you, Logan."
The next morning, Logan was on her way to Matsuo's, creeping quietly past the main room of the mansion, when she heard raised voices coming from behind the shoji screens—Makoto's and Shingen's. Logan stopped, feeling slightly guilty, but the way they were yelling, she didn't even need her enhanced hearing.
How could you disrespect Asano's daughter like that?! Shingen shouted at his son.
I bear no love towards that woman, father. She dishonors the Yashida name.
Hold your tongue, boy! Shingen paced angrily. Someone such as yourself does not marry for love, Mokoto. They marry to bring glory to their clan. If you cannot accept this fact then I will force you to!
You cannot order me to do something my heart is against, father. Shingen exploded.
Where is your respect, you ungrateful whelp?! How dare you speak to me in this manner?! Makoto's voice was cold and tight.
I am not you, Shingen, and I do not do as tradition dictates. I will marry the woman I love, and you cannot stop me.
Then you will never lead Clan Yashida, boy! I will see to it!
Don't be so sure of that, father.
Are you threatening me?
If you try to stop my marriage to Logan, then yes. You will regret it.
Then you go with your whore, Makoto. You have dishonored yourself and your clan.
So be it, father.
Leave my sight! Shingen snapped.
Gladly! said Makoto, throwing open the screen and storming out into the hallway. He stopped short as he saw Logan.
"Oh no…I am sorry you had to hear that." Logan half-smiled.
"It's okay…I understand I'm not your father's dream girl for his only honorable son." Makoto chuckled dryly.
"No longer honorable, apparently." Makoto put his arm around her shoulders and led her back towards their apartments. "It does not matter, Logan. When I am head of the clan, I can do as I please and they will be forced to accept you." Logan was relieved he was too upset to notice she was dressed in a gi instead of her customary kimono.
Logan answered the door to Shingen's majordomo. He bowed low, handing Logan a note. "Lord Shingen requests that you join him for tea."
Logan frowned. She wasn't dumb enough to think this was anything but a set up. She looked at the note, reading that he would expect her there in three hours—shortly after Makoto was scheduled to make a business trip in town. "Tell him I will be there."
The majordomo bowed and then scurried off.
Logan sat on a mat in front of the window and began to meditate. She'd have to be centered when she faced Shingen.
"Logan, I am honored by your presence."
Logan bit her tongue, fighting the urge to tell him she knew he was full of shit. "I am honored by your request to meet with me, Lord Shingen."
"Please, sit at my table."
Logan did as he requested. She'd take things slowly, keeping her eyes open for any traps.
"I am sorry for the way in which I have treated you," Shingen said. "If my son says you are a woman with honor, I should listen." He smiled. "I reacted badly. I am just a man who loves his son, and wants the best for him. I believed that would be a proper Japanese wife, but now I realize that he will not be happy unless he is with the woman he loves."
A woman came in and poured tea for both of them. Shingen raised the cup. "Let us drink to your impending marriage."
Logan raised the cup, discretely sniffing it in a check for poisons. She smelled nothing but the distinctive aroma of green tea. She took a drink.
As soon as the hot tea hit her throat, Logan knew something was wrong. The taste was bitter and strangely stale, but it was too late. The corrupted liquid poured into her stomach as Shingen watched and smiled.
"Matsuo has informed me of your unique talents, Logan, but fortunately my agents are very resourceful. This is an ancient poison, scentless and said to cause instant death." Logan's vision began to blur and Shingen's voice came from a long tunnel. She tried to speak, move, anything, but blackness closed in around her, and Logan slumped to the floor before she could move a muscle.
Logan came to in a tiny, windowless room. She was lying on her side on a tatami mat that was stained with blood. Her blood. Her muscles felt like they were on fire and she retched as her body fought the poison.
She's awake said a harsh voice from over her. Logan recognized it as one of the gun-toting guards that constantly patrolled Shingen's estate.
Not for long, said another. Lord Shingen's orders are for her death. Logan was hauled to her feet and one of the thugs drove his fist into her face. By the pain, Logan could tell it wasn't the first time. Blood dripped into her eyes and her vision was hazy. She wasn't feeling the familiar sensation of her healing factor compensating for her injuries. It was overloaded by the poison.
Logan knew she was going to die if she let them hit her much longer. They had already nearly beaten the life out of her. The thug drew his fist back for another hit, and Logan's foot swept out, catching him in the groin. He howled and doubled over.
She drove her head backwards into the one holding her, hitting his chin. He released her, and Logan turned on the prone one, grabbing his neck and snapping it with a quick twist. The other she left lying on the floor, using the last of her strength to pull herself out of the room and towards safety.
Logan drug herself towards the dojo, her injuries beginning to heal. She stumbled into the door, finding Matsuo meditating. "You…you sold me out."
Matsuo let out a slow, deep breath. "I am loyal to my clan, Logan-san."
"Shingen has no honor, Matsuo. He tricked me—poisoned me—then sent his thugs to beat me to death. If you serve him, you have no honor of your own."
Matsuo rose slowly, approaching his collection of swords. He drew the one from the top, then brought it to Logan, placing it in her hand. "This sword was given to me by my master when I first completed my training. It had been given to him by his master. Use it with honor."
Logan bowed. "I will."
Logan went back to the apartments she shared with Makoto, tearing off her bloodied kimono and replacing them with jeans and a t-shirt. She laced up her boots and took the last of the pins out of her hair.
Shingen would not live to see the morning.
Shingen sat in disbelief, as the bloody bodyguard in front of him told him the gaijin woman had escaped and killed another one of his men.
Find her! She can't have gotten far! he raged. Another bodyguard came running in as the other one was leaving.
Lord Shingen, the gaijin is waiting in the main hall! he cried. Shingen drew in his breath.
She dares to challenge me… he murmured.
Sir? Shingen went to his wall and took down his favorite katana.
Tell her I am coming for her.
Logan stood at the end of the great main hall of the Yashida mansion, watching as Shingen emerged from the other end. His bald head was a fiery red with rage, and he pointed his katana at her.
"You are not worthy to be with my son, in my house and especially not worthy to challenge a warrior such as myself!" Logan's mouth curved upwards.
"A false sense of honor doesn't make you worthy, bub." She stepped forward and bowed formally.
"You have no honor, woman!" he spat. Logan's eyes narrowed.
"Maybe so, but I'm still better than a worm like you." Shingen slashed forward with his sword and Logan met him. Shingen was a skilled samurai, but Matsuo had trained Logan well. She fought with perfect concentration, meeting Shingen blow for blow. Neither of them had managed to shed the blood of the other.
Logan and Shingen's katanas locked at the hilt, and Logan pushed away from him, panting. For an old man, he was fast and tenacious as they came. He lunged again, and Logan sidestepped to slash at his stomach, but Shingen suddenly spun and cut her across the knuckles. Logan gave a cry of pain, Matsuo's katana spinning out of her grasp.
Shingen had her on her knees, towering over her with his sword raised. "So much for you, gaijin," he smirked. "My son is going to be so very disappointed when he finds his whore has abandoned him without so much as a goodbye. I will make it look very convincing." Logan growled.
"He won't believe you."
"Oh but he will…because you are the same as all the others who have left him before. Little more than female animals."
Red dropped over Logan's vision. No matter what she did, where she went, they all saw her as an animal. She could never just be Logan. She was different. She was the Wolverine.
She was an animal.
Wolverine let out an enraged cry as her claws extended and she drove them deep into Shingen's thigh before he could bring his sword down. He screamed in pain, blood spurting from his wound. Logan leapt up and at him, her adamantium talons finding flesh again and again.
She drove Shingen back to the wall of the mansion, ignoring the cuts from his sword that landed on her body. She had no control, no way to hold back the indescribable urge to kill that boiled up from inside her.
And she didn't want to.
Shingen raised his sword once more, his face holding more terror than anything else as he attempted to fend off Logan's furious assault. Logan slashed his wrist, and the sword fell to the ground. Shingen screamed and doubled over. Logan held him up, retracting her claws as she growled into his face.
"Am I worthy now, Shingen?" He spat on her.
"You are not even human." Logan smiled grimly.
"And you're a dead man." She raised her balled fist. Shingen glared at her.
"I am not afraid of death!"
Logan smiled at him, then extended her two middle claws directly into the crime lord's eyes. There was a wet squelch, and Shingen fell to the floor.
"Good," Logan said, before walking out of the hall.
"Logan!"
Logan looked up, her face paling at Makoto's voice. What had he seen?
He ran to her, wrapping his arms around her. "Are you all right? I came home and found you gone, and I was so worried." He showered her face with kisses.
Logan pulled away. "Makoto…I…I just killed your father."
"I know. I watched the whole thing." He stroked her cheek, and Logan shuddered, realizing that he now had his own father's blood on his hand. "It's all right, Logan. I am now head of the Clan Yashida."
"But he was your father."
"He was never a real father to me," Makoto spat. "Come, Logan. You are sure to need rest."
Logan was too shaken to argue. She let him lead her back to their home.
Logan noticed a change in Makoto as soon as they were out from the shadow of Shingen. He relaxed considerably, and Logan was surprised to hear him actually laugh.
"I think we should be married by the sea," Makoto said, holding Logan close to him.
She smiled, her eyes closed as she relished the feel of being in her lover's arms. "That sounds lovely, Makoto."
Makoto kissed her lightly. "You have brought a light to my life, Logan. I can never thank you enough for that."
"You've already done more than enough. You love me, Makoto. That's more than anyone's ever given me."
Makoto held her closer. "I will love you until I die, Logan-chan."
Logan smiled across the table at Makoto. He smiled back, and she felt warmth spread throughout her from her heart.
Suddenly, Logan heard something wiz through the air, and Makoto slumped forward.
"Makoto!" Logan yelled, jumping to her feet and running to her lover. She pulled his head into her lap. "Makoto…"
Logan…I am dying…
No! You can't die on me! You can't leave me!
She reached up and pulled the dart from his neck. She recognized the markings. The Hand. Her eyes filled with tears. "No…"
Logan, please, take me by the ocean. I want to see it as I die.
You're not going to die. There's gotta be an antidote.
There's no time to find one. Please, Logan…
He closed his eyes, taking a shuddering breath. Logan drug him as best she could from the building, taking him outside so he could see the ocean. Makoto smiled weakly.
I regret that you never got the chance to become my wife. I…I always imagined us together until we were great-grandparents…
Logan's tears fell down her cheeks. I love you so much… she said, her voice barely audible.
Makoto writhed in pain in her lap. I do not want to die like this. He took her hand, placing it against his stomach. Please, my love, allow me to die honorably.
Logan froze at what he was suggesting. No, Makoto…I can't.
He cried out. Please! If you love me, you will!
Logan kissed him lightly on the lips one last time. I will always love you.
And I will always love you.
Logan roared into the night sky.
*SNIKT*